MISCELLANEOUS

Dunstan Times, Issue 373, 18 June 1869, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS

A most romantic marriage was recently consummated on the Darling, and the story will bear telling. A Chinaman, following the useful but not too exciting occupation of a market gardener, became enamoured of a certain young lady, who had some time previously taken up her abode in the locality where our Celestial friend drove a thriving trade. John assiduously paid his addresses, and was rewarded by having his attentions received. Time proved that the course of true love was, in this case a smooth one, and at last the day was fixed, the parson was sent for the wedding ring purchased, the bride’s train and wedding presents provided, the cake—a pyramid in size, and magnificent to look upon —was prepared, and ready at the bridegroom’s residence. Visitors were allowed the pleasure of beholding it, while many mouths longed for a taste. The minister arrived to perform the ceremony, when lo ! to the astonishment of the neighbourhood, the bride refused to become Mrs. . Well never mind the name. John Chinaman then became disconsolate, and would not be comforted. He stripped her of all her presents, brought them to his homo, and then sat looking at them, saying, “ There lie £9O worth of things, and no person to use them.” In the midst of his mourning, John was roused from his reverie by a lady saying, “ Dear Johnnie, I am come to console you in your troubles and disappointment. I will become Mrs.-«suppose we say Ching Chong. I love this garden, this dear little cottage, those dresses, and will endeavour to make them fit me, to save further expense. The parson is here : not a moment is to be lost. Not a moment was lost. The minister was called in, and in the presence of witnesses, male and female, the ceremony was performed. Invitations were issued, which wore punctually attended to, and the pyramidal cake was soon put out of shape. The next move was towards the garden, and the water and sugar melons are reported to have severely suffered. This is the first Chinese marriage on the Darling, and wo wish Mr. and Mrs. Ching Chong happine s. Shirk Gowdah (the “ Dubbo Dispatch states) a native of Ceylon, is employed at Tattersall’s Hotel, Dubbo. He possesses a stomach of extraordinary digestive powers, beating the ostrich by long odds, for this bird—by all accounts—can only digest paving stones. He cannot, however, like some of his countrymen, swallow a sheep—wool, tail, horns, and trotters included ; but ho can drink a glass of Hennessy’s battle axe and swallow the tumbler afterwards Cut wine glasses are apparently as groat a luxury to him as sweet biscuits are to a child. He crushes the globe of the glass between his teeth, without injuring his gums, and then swallows the pieces. A wine glass disappears in two mouthfuls, a tumbler in four. He leaves the pedestal of the former and the base of the latter, as being too hard and coarse. He has been known to swallow the globes of four wine glasses in a day, when ho has met with a “ new chum ” to stake a bet on the experiment, He is apparently in good health, does his work, and never complains of illness.

A dvcrtising ingenuity has left little room for novelty, but a merchant in Newark, New York State, has challenged attention by leaving his space entirely blank, with the following note, in fine print, at the bottom—“ This space was sold to A. E. Boennan, but as their business is sufficiently brisk already, they decline to use it. The 62,000 Chinese in California are nearly all enrolled in six clubs, corresponding to the six districts from which they came. When an immigrant ship arrives, the agents of each club go on hoard and take charge of those who come from their district. The immigrant is boarded and lodged until he finds employment. All Chinamen that are sick or in want are also provided for by the clubs. Tardieu, the celebrated chemist, has made some interesting and important experiments with red stockings imported from England. After extracting the colouring matter, ho introduced a certain quantity of it beneath the skin of a dog, which died in twelve hours. A rabbit, similarly treated, expired in eight hours, and a frog in four. Opening the animals, Mr. Tardieu rc-cx-tracted the red coloring matter from their bodies, and with it died a skein of silk. In his report, communicated to the Acadamio des Sciences, M. Tardieu condemns the use of “ coralino ” (the mineral poison to which the fatal stockings owe their brilliant. but deceptive hue) as an article of general commerce ; and recommends that the importation of red stockings from bO absolutely prohibited.